Daily Archives: July 1, 2011

Compose an altar: place a censer in the center before an image of the Goddess.
Have a twelve inch (or so) round mirror there as well.
Ring the altar with nine white candles.
Burn a protective incense (such as sandalwood, frankincense, copal, or rosemary) in the censer.
Begin with the candle most directly in front of the Goddess image, saying these or similar words:

Lunar Light Protect Me!

Repeat lighting each candle.
Now say these words holding the mirror and invoking the Goddess in her lunar aspect:

Great Goddess of Lunar Light
and Mistress of the Seas
Great Goddess of the Mystic Night
and of the mysteries;
Within this place of candles bright
and with your mirror nigh;
Protect me with your awesome might
While ill vibrations fly!

Standing before the altar, hold the mirror facing the candles so that it reflects their flames.
Slowly move in a circle keeping the reflection of the candles in the mirror letting the light reflect off your surroundings.
Slowly increase your speed invoking the Goddess as you move faster and faster watch the light as it cleanses removing all negative and energies in your home.
Once finished stand once again infront of the Goddess image and thank her for helping protect you and your belongings.

Crystal of the Day

Bandonyx

Bandonyx is the black and white variety of Onyx and is also called Layer stone. This stone contains a good balance in itself and will promote this in its wearer as well. This stone may be used to heal diseases of the liver like yellow fever and hepatitis, but also liver cirrhosis may be treated by wearing this stone. This stone helps its wearer to find the truth and may be worn in court cases where one has the law on his/her side. Bandonyx promotes tolerance and accepting others as they are, which is why this stone can be very useful treating xenophobia.

Caprifoliaceae, the order to which the Honeysuckles belong, includes about 300 species, chiefly shrubs, growing in the north temperate zone or extending into the higher cool tropical regions. Besides the Viburnums and Sambucus, a number have found more or less important uses in medicine, but they exhibit but little uniformity in composition or properties.

—Medicinal Action and Uses—A dozen or more of the 100 species of Loniceraor Honeysuckle are used medicinally, the fruits generally having emiticocathartic properties. Several of these drugs have more than a local repute.

The herbage of L. caprifolium(Linn.), the smaller, or ITALIAN HONEYSUCKLE, of Mid- and Southern Europe, is used as a cutaneous and mucous tonic and vulnerary and the seeds as a diuretic.

L. Periclymenum (Linn.), our common ENGLISH WILD HONEYSUCKLE, is used similarly and the stems as a substitute or adulterant for Solanum Dulcamara, the Bittersweet.

Waller says: ‘The leaves and flowers of Honeysuckle are possessed of diuretic and sudorific properties,’ and adds:

‘a decoction of the flowers has been celebrated as an excellent antispasmodic and recommended in asthma of the nervous kind. An elegant water may be distilled from these flowers, which has been recommended for nervous headache.’

Gerard says: ‘The Honeysuckle is “neither cold nor binding, but hot and attenuating or making thin.” ‘ He quotes Dioscorides as saying that:

‘the ripe seed gathered and dried in theshadow and drunk for four days together, doth waste and consume away the hardness of the spleen and removeth wearisomeness, helpeth the shortness and difficulty of breathing, cureth the hicket (hiccough), etc. A syrup made of the flowers is good to be drunk against diseases of the lungs and spleen.’

He also recommends it for sores in various parts of the alimentary canal.

Salmon in his Herbal (1710) speaks only of the Meadow Honeysuckle, ‘which was the name given by the agriculturists of his day to the Meadow Trefoil (Trifolium pratense).’

The herbage of the true Honeysuckles is a favourite food of goats, hence the Latin name Caprifolium (Goats’ Leaf), the French Chèvre-feuille, German Geisblatt and Italian Capri-foglio, all signifying the same. The berries have been used as food for chickens. The name of the genus, Lonicera, was given by Linnaeus in honour of Adam Lonicer, a physician and naturalist, born at Marburg in 1528, who wrote, among other works, the Naturalis Historiae Opus novum, which contains much curious information about plants.

Our native Honeysuckle has expectorant and laxative properties. The flowers in the form of syrup have been used for diseases of the respiratory organs and in asthma and the leaves as decoction in diseases of the liver and spleen. It was also considered a good ingredient in gargles.

L. tartarica, a native of Siberia, an upright species, a shrub, not a climber, has berries which are nauseously bitter and purgative.

The wood of L. Xylosteum, native of Eastern Europe and Asia, but found naturalized in Sussex, also of shrub-like nature, is used by the Russians to prepare an empyrheumatic oil for ‘cold tumours and chronic pains. ‘ It is sold in China as Jin-tung. Animals seldom touch the leaves of this species and birds eat its berries only in hard weather – they are reputed to be purgative and emetic.

L. brachypoda repens is used in Japan as a drastic purgative, and L. Japonica (Thunb.) is sold in China as Kin-yin-keva.

Diervilla, the Bush Honeysuckle, especially Diervilla Diervilla (L. Diervilla, Linn.), has a similar repute, especially as a diuretic and as an application to relieve itching.

Various species of Symphoricarpus, Snowberry, Wax-berry, Coral-berry, Indian Currant, Turkey-berry, Wolf-berry, to give a few of its names, of North America, are similarly employed. S. racemosa(Mich.) is often planted in hedges.

Culpepper says:

‘Honeysuckles are cleansing, consuming and digesting, and therefore no way fit for inflammations. Take a leaf and chew it in your mouth and you will quickly find it likelier to cause a sore mouth and throat than cure it. If it be not good for this, what is it good for? It is good for something, for God and nature made nothing in vain. It is a herb of Mercury, and appropriated to the lungs; the celestial Crab claims dominion over it, neither is it a foe to the Lion; if the lungs be afflicted by Jupiter, this is your cure. It is fitting a conserve made of the flowers should be kept in every gentlewoman’s house; I know no better cure for the asthma than this besides it takes away the evil of the spleen: provokes urine, procures speedy delivery of women in travail, relieves cramps, convulsions, and palsies, and whatsoever griefs come of cold or obstructed perspiration; if you make use of it as an ointment, it will clear the skin of morphew, freckles, and sunburnings, or whatever else discolours it, and then the maids will love it. Authors say, the flowers are of more effect than the leaves, and that is true: but they say the seeds are the least effectual of all. But there is a vital spirit in every seed to beget its like; there is a greater heat in the seed than any other part of the plant; and heat is the mother of action.’

Saint of the Day

St. Benedicta

In his Dialogues, Pope Saint Gregory the Great tells of the nun Benedicta as a cherished friend of her fellow religious, the widow Saint Galla, who had spent many years serving God in a Roman convent near Saint Peter’s Basilica. Having been stricken with breast cancer, the bedridden Galla kept two candles burning each night at the foot of her bed, for as Gregory explains, “she hated darkness, being a friend of light, physical as well as spiritual light.” It was between these two candles that one night the Apostle Saint Peter appeared in a vision to Galla. The dying nun asked him, “Have my sins been forgiven?” Smiling, Peter nodded yes and answered, “They are forgiven. Come.” But Galla now requested, “I beg you to let Sister Benedicta come with me.” Peter told her, “Sister Benedicta will follow you in thirty days.” Three days later, Galla died. Thirty days afterward, Sister Benedicta died just as Saint Peter in the vision had foretold. Fittingly, the head relic of Saint Benedicta is kept in Rome’s Church of the Apostles.

Deity of the Day

Dagda (Irish)

The Irish father God of the Earth is known to mate with the Morrigan, Goddess of death at Samhuinn, he is the keeper of the horn of plenty and the harp of seasons. A fearsome warrior whose club can renew life as well as kill, together with Ogma and Lugh he helped defeat the Formorians for the Tuatha De Danaan. His name translates as the “Good God” though more for his skills than his actions in spite of the fact that he is stated as being a wise elder. Druids see him as a God of wisdom, with extreme power, abundance and the ability to restore life, a belief sacred to the Celts. “The Good God”‘ “All-father”; Great God; Lord of the Heavens; Father of the gods and men; Lord of Life and Death; the Arch-Druid; god of magic; Earth God. High King of the Tuatha De Danann. He had four great palaces in the depths of the earth and under the hollow hills. The Dagda had several children, the most important being Brigit, Angus, Midir, Ogma and Bodb the Red. God of death and rebirth; master of all trades; lord of perfect knowledge. He had a cauldron called The Undry which supplied unlimited food. He also had a living oak harp which caused the seasons to change in their order. He was pictured wearing a brown, low-necked tunic which just reached his hips and a hooded cape that barely covered his shoulders. On his feet were horse-hide boots. Behind him he pulled his massive 8-pronged warclub on a wheel. Protection, warriors, knowledge, magic, fire, prophecy, weather, reincarnation, the arts, initiation, patron of priests, the Sun, healing, regeneration, prosperity and plenty, music, the harp. First among magicians, warriors, artisans, all knowledge.

Seven of Swords Reversed
Good things may come from unforseen sources. Freedom from burdens and the easing of tension are possible.

Othala
Othala represents a solid, immovable home, prosperity and safety. Good fortune based on your heritage and character is yours to enjoy.

Pisces the Fishes
This aspect of your life will be strongly influenced by a person who is escapist and idealistic, secretive and vague, weak-willed and easily led. This person probably relies to heavily upon you to make decisions for them.

Your Daily Influences represent events and challenges the current day will present for you. They may represent opportunities you should be ready to seize. Or they may forewarn you of problems you may be able to avoid or lessen. Generally it is best to use them as tips to help you manage your day and nothing more.

The Chakras represent the seven primary energy hubs in the body. Life force energy is constantly flowing in and out of these centers. Just as the cosmos is constantly changing, so too are the levels of energy absorbed and radiated by our Chakra centers. The graph below is a representation of the quantities of Chakra energies available today.

Sahasrara:

37%

66%

Vishuddha:

62%

Anahata:

20%

Manipura:

80%

Svadhisthana:

52%

Muladhara:

70%

Legend:Sahasrara – The Crown Chakra represents energies associated with cosmic consciousness, spirituality, knowledge, wisdom and inner peace.Ajna – The Third Eye Chakra represents energies focused on both physical and spiritual vision. Psychic powers resonate from the Ajna Chakra, as well as your image of the Cosmos as a whole (the big picture) and the many nuances that make your journey unique.Vishuddha – Throat Chakra is the energy center associated with communication and creativity. Your energy to express yourself verbally and creatively are derived from the Vishuddha Chakra.Anahata – The Heart Chakra’s energy is concentrated on issues concerning your emotions. This energy fuels your power to love, feel compassion and maintain balance between disparate aspects of your being.Manipura – The Power Chakra provides the energy that fuels our strength of will, individuality and sense of self-worth.Svadhisthana – The Spleen or Sacral Chakra supplies the energy we use emotionally and sexually. This is the energy used to connect to others.Muladhara – The Root or Base Chakra furnishes the energy used to create and maintain our foundation. This is the energy that keeps us on firm ground and provides us with the basic skills to uphold a place in the world.